Drop-box mechanism for looms



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J; DoBR1`1\IG.'A Drop-B01; Mechanism for Looms. No., 225,115. PatentedMar. .,2, T880@ N- PETERS, PHON-LITHOGRAPHER. WASHINGTON D, t:4

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J. DOERING. l Drop-Box Meohanismfor Looms? No. 225]?5. Patented Mar. 2,80.

M F'ETERS, FHOTOJJTHOGRAPHER. WASHINGTON, 1K2,

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JUSTUS DOERING, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

DROP-BOX MECHANISM FOR LOOMS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 225,115, dated March 2,1880.

Application filed December 8, 1879.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JUs'rUs DoERING, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, haveinvented a new and usef'ul Improvement in Drop-BoX-Operating Mechanismsfor Looms, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to constructa compact and smoothly-workingdevice whereby the drop-boxes of a loom can be rapidly and accuratelyadjusted and held in position after adjustment.

The invention consists of the combination l of a slide carrying a blockconnected to the drop-boxes and having certain spring-fingers with aseries of studs and devices for operating the same, whereby the verticalreciprocation ofthe block and drop-boxes is effected on the longitudinalreciprocation of the slide..

The invention further consists of the combination of the slide having aswinging bar with a crank-pin, a sliding` strip, and devices foroperating the said pin and strip, whereby the reciprocation of the slideat the properintervals only is effected.

The invention further consists of the combination of the studs foracting in conjunc tion with the fingers of the block with certainplates, pins, shafts, and arms, whereby the retraction of one stud isassured on the advancement of another, all as hereinafter fully setforth. Y

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l, Sheet 1, is an end view of partof a loom, showin gthe application of my improved drop-boxoperatingdevice thereto; Fig. 2, 'a front view of part of Fig. l, Fig. 3, Sheet2, a longitudinal section on the line l 2, Fig. 2, drawn to an enlargedscale; Fig. 4, a transverse section of Fig.,3 on the line 3, 4; Fig. 5,Sheet 3, a sectional plan on the line 5 6, Fig. 8; Fig. 6, a plan viewof part of Fig. 3; Fig. 7, a section on the line 7 S, Fig. 5; and Figs.8, 9, and l0, reduced sections of Fig. 7 on the lines 9 10, l1 12, and13 14, respectively.

A is a frame bolted or otherwise secured to the foundation of the loom,and constructed for the guidance of a slide, B, the reciprocation ofwhich at the proper times is effected by means of a crank-pin, a, on apinion, b, carried by the said frame A, the pin acting on one end of theslide B and on a'bar, d, which is hung to the said slide by means ofhinged plates c, and is acted upon by a spring, c. The slide B is onlyreciprocated when it is necessary to raise or lower the dropAboXes, thebar l at other times being thrown out of the path of the crank-pin a bythe inclined end of a strip, e, adapted to guides on the top of theframe A, the strip being' held in the position shown in Fig. 6 by alatch, c', hung to the strip and adapted to a recess in the frame A. Thelatch c is, however, provided with acord, e2, one end of which isconnected to a pin on the strip c, the other end passing through an eyeon the frame A, so that on pulling said cord the first effect will be toelevate the latch c', and then to draw the strip c in the direction ofthe arrow, Fig. 6, and thereby permit the bar d, under t-he influence ofthe springe', to move into the path of the crank-pin ft. i

The pinion b and its crank-pin a. turn in the direction of the arrow,Fig. 3, one revolution of the crank-pin being sufcient to impart aforward and backward movement to the slide B, the pin entering the slotbetween the bar d and the end of theslide, and acting first on the saidbar d, so as to move the slide forward in the direction of the arrow,and then on the end d of said slide, so as to restore it to its originalposition.

On the forward movement of the slide B a plate, h, on the latter acts ona pin, It', on the strip c, so as to restore said strip to the posi-`tion shown in Fig. 6, and thereby throw the bar d out of the path ofthe crank-pin a, until the strip is again operated.

In order to effect the reciprocation of the slide B with the properrapidity, the pinion b is driven by a larger pinion, j', and the latterby a pinion on the driving-shaft of the loom, (see Fig. 1,) the pinion bpreferably making two revolutions to each revolution of the driv.

lng-shaft. In order, however, to prevent the operation of the slide Bwhen the other parts of the loom are not in the proper positions, thepinion j' is furnished with a cam, f', which acts on the enlarged headf2 of the bar d, and throws the said bar out of the path of thecrank-pin et until the proper time for the changing of the drop-boxes.

The movement of the strip c might be so timed that the cam f on thepinion f could Ybe dispensed with; but it is preferable to connect thecord c2, which operates the strip c, to

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one of the needles ofthe Jacquard apparatus, as shown in Fig. l, forinstance, and iii this case the needle is retracted simultaneously withthe opening of the shed, so that in the absence of the cam f the slide Bmight be operated and the boxes changed while the shuttle was beingthrown.

The means whereby the longitudinal reciprocation o1 the slide B iscaused to eect the vertical movement of tlicdrop-boxes are shown inFigs. 1, 2, 3, and 4, and are as follows: To..

suitable guides in the slide B is adapted a block, D, the upper end ofwhich is connected by a link, E, to one arm of a lever, E', hung to theframe ofthe loom, the other arm of said lever being connected by a rod,F, to an arm, F', from which is hung, by means of rods G, (only one ofwhich is showin) the frame J, carrying the drop-boxes, said frame beingadapted to suitable guides on the swinging lay M. In one side of theblock D is formed a recess, t', the sides of which are partly paralleland partly flaring, so as to impart to the recess the Y shape shown inFig. 3. In the flaring` portion of this recess are arranged a series ofpivoted ngers, the number of which will depend upon the number of dropboxes employedin the loom. The device shown in the drawings is adaptedfor operating three boxes, and there are four fingers, m, m', m2, andm3.

"When the parts are in the position shown in Fig. 3 the adjacent facesof the iingers m m form continuations of the parallel sides of therecess i7, and the linger m2 occupies an inclined position midway, orthereabout, between the iinger m and the iipperinclined side oftherecess i, the end of the linger m bearing against the end of the fingerm2, and the latter bearof said fingers to yield under the circumstancesdescribed hereinafter.

At one side of the frame A is a casing, N, the opposite sides of whichare slotted, so as to form guides for a series of plates, P, three ofwhich are shown in the present instance, one for each drop-box. Thefront ends of these plates are provided with studs s, which, inconnection with the fingers m m', Src., effect the verticalreciprocation of the block D and the drop-boxes on the longitudinalreciprocation of the slide B, as follows: When the parts are in theposition shown in Fig. {fi-that is to say, with the slide D lowered toits full extent and the stud s of the lowerinost plate P occupying alposition between the fingers 'm m/ the partial elevation of the block Dmay be effected by retracting the lower plate P and its stud andadvancing the middle plate, P',

so that its stud s shall occupy a position in the opening n between thefingers m and m2. On the forward movement of the slide B the said studwill act on the inclined face of the finger m2 and effect the raising ofthe block D and the operation of the drop-box frame, the finger myielding in order to allow the stud s to pass into the parallel portionof the recess t, and then resuming itsrformer position, so that on thebackward movement ot' the slide B the stud will occupy a positionbetween the fingers m and m', and the block D and dropboxes will befirmly locked in position.

The block D may be elevated to the full extent by moving the stud of theuppermost plate P into the opening between the iinger m2 and the upperinclined edge of the recess z' or the block D, when elevated, may bedepressed to the extent of one box by withdrawing tlie uppermost platePand advancing the middle plate so that its stud s will occupy a positionbetween the fingers m and m3, the full depression of the block beingeffected by the cooperation of the stud s ofthe lowerinost plate P withthe finger m3, and the lower inclined edge ofthe recess t'.

As an additional means of locking the bloc D in position, said block isprovided with a lug, y, which is adapted to recesses in a standard, T,on the upper edge of the frame A.

Each of the plates P has a central elongated slot, to which are adaptedthree vertical shafts, S, the ends `of which are fitted to bearings inthe top and bottom of the casing N., Each of these shafts has threearms, x, which engage with pins w on the plates P, the pins and studsbeing so arranged in respect to each other that but one stud at a timecan occupy an advanced position between the fingers, the advancement ofeither of the other studs insuring the retraction of the stud previouslyadvanced. This will be understood on reference to the diagrams, Figs. 8,9, and 10.

Each of the plates P has a pin, t, to which is attached a cord, t,woundround a drum, t2, carried by a shaft or spindle projecting from one sideof the casing N, and each of said spindles carries a drum, e, aroundwhich is wound a cord, t', one end of which is carried upward through aneye in a plate, o2, while the other end extends downward and isconnected to a spring-plate, c3. The upper ends of the cords o are, bypreference, connected to the cords of the Jacquard apparatus, as shownin Fig. 1, for instance, and the drums c and t2 are combined withsuitable pawl-andratchet mechanism, so that the movement of the drum o,caused by the elevation of the cord el, will not affectthe drum t2, thereverse movement of the drum e, caused by the recoil of the springplatec3, however, being imparted to the drum t2, so as to wind the cord tthereon and effect the advancement of the plate P, to which said cord isconnected.

The object of using the spring-plate 113 instead of operatin g theplates P directly by the IOO IOS

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jacquard i-s to prevent the advancement of the plates at a time when theother parts of the loom are not in. the proper positions for a change ofthe drop-boxes.

In carrying out my invention it is not necessary that the devices shownfor operating the studs s and the strip e should be used in all cases.For instance, the said studs and the strip might be operated by cams ora patternchain, or the strip e and the bar d might .be dispensed withaltogether, and the slide B reciprocated continuously from some movingpart of the loom, the use of the strip and bar, however, beingpreferred, as it obviates the excessive wear which would be caused by acontinuous reciprocation of the slide B.

Themeans for connectingthe drop-box frame to the block D will, ofcourse, be varied as the character of the loom to which the operatingmechanism is applied may suggest.

I claim as my inventionl. The combination of the slide B, devices `forguiding and reciprocating the same, the

guided block D, having spring-fingers, as described, the drop-box frameJ, devices for connecting said frame to the block D, the studs s, anddevices for advancing and retracting said studs, all substantially asset forth.

2. VThe combination of the slide B, devices for guiding andreciprocating the same, the guided block D, having a recess, z', andspringfingers located therein, as described, the dropbox frame J,devices for connecting said frame to the block D, the studs s, anddevices for advancing and retractin g said studs, as set forth.

3. The combination of the frame A, the slide B, having a swinging bar,d, the crank-pin a, devices for rotating the saine, the strip e, withinclined end, and means, substantially as described, for adjusting saidstrip.

4. The combination of the frame A', the slide B, having a swinging bar,d, and spring c for acting thereon, the pinion b, having a crankpin, a,the pinion f, having a cam, f', the strip e, having an inclined end, anddevices for rotating said pinion f and operating the strip e, as setforth.

5. The combination of the casing N, the slotted plates P, having studs sand pins w, and the shafts S, having arms x, said arms m and pins wbeing arranged as described, whereby the advancement of one plateeffects the retraction of the plate previously advanced, as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

JUSTUS DOERING.

Witnesses:

ALEXANDER PATTERSON, HARRY SMITH.

